PM's visit to ChinaA tremendous success

Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen on Tuesday described Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to China as a "tremendously successful" one, highlighting four prominent features - higher, broader, pragmatic and consolidated.

Firstly, Bangladesh-China relations have been elevated to a higher level, he said.

"Leaders of our two countries agreed to elevate the bilateral relationship to a comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership. This is the most important political outcome of the visit," Yao told a small group of reporters while briefing them at the Chinese Embassy in Dhaka on the outcome of the visit.

The envoy referred to a higher level of political mutual trust.

"The Chinese side will continue to firmly support Bangladesh in maintaining peace and stability, realising development goals as envisioned under Vision 2041, non-interference in its internal affairs, and independently choosing a development path suited to its national conditions," he said.

The Ambassador mentioned that Bangladesh reiterated its firm commitment to the One-China principle and its position that the Government of the People's Republic of China represents the whole of China, and Taiwan is part of China, and Bangladesh supports China on issues pertaining to China's core interests and China's efforts to safeguard its national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The two sides also discussed the Global Development Initiative (GDI), the Global Security Initiative (GSI) and the Global Civilization Initiative (GCI) put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

"The Chinese side is ready to share experience on GDI issues with the Bangladesh side," he said.

Thirdly, Ambassador Yao mentioned more assistance and help to the urgent needs of Bangladesh.

The Chinese side has responded positively to the Bangladeshi side's concerns about the expansion of financial assistance.

"The Chinese side agreed to provide assistance equal to $US2 billion to Bangladesh under the packages of grants, interest-free loans, concessional loans and commercial loans," said the Ambassador.

Fourthly, he mentioned a higher status of development cooperation.

"The Chinese side supports the Southern Integrated Development Initiatives (SIDI) of Bangladesh, among others, under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative to help this region achieve balanced and sustainable development," he said.

Responding to a question regarding criticism of the outcome of the visit, the Ambassador said these are their assessments while China's and PM Hasina's assessments are the same.

Asked about the PM's early return to Bangladesh, he said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina spoke very clearly about the reason and all official programmes were completed before she departed from Beijing.

Yao Wen said the meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina lasted for an hour. "I was there in the meeting. It is nonsense, those who are saying (it was too short)."

Responding to a question on the Teesta River project, he reiterated his country's position. "It's a project of Bangladesh and it is for the government of Bangladesh to take the decision," he said, adding that they will respect Bangladesh's decision.

On 14 July, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina briefed the media on her visit to China and she described the visit as a significant part of Bangladesh's diplomatic activities and a pivotal moment in Bangladesh's diplomatic endeavours, Yao said.

Elaborating the second feature - broader, the Chinese envoy said the areas of cooperation between the two sides are much broader.

The joint statement covers as broad as 17 areas, including almost all aspects of the economic and social development of Bangladesh, namely, politics, political parties, trade and commerce, major cooperation projects, finance, digital and ICT, agriculture, meteorology, water management, ecological protection, health, education, people-to-people, maritime and blue economy, archaeology, defence, multilateral affairs cooperation and so on, resulting in a total of 27 practical outcomes.

On the third feature - pragmatic, Ambassador Yao said Bangladesh-China cooperation is pragmatic and brings tangible benefits and welfare to the two peoples.

He said the Chinese enterprises are willing to proactively take part in the construction of subways, roads, hospitals and other projects in Bangladesh.

 The two sides have concluded the joint feasibility study on the China-Bangladesh free trade agreement and will launch formal negotiations as soon as possible.

China has completed the entry procedures for Bangladesh's mango exports to China and welcomes Bangladesh to expand exports of jute, leather and other high-quality special products to China.

China will continue to provide the zero-tariff treatment on 98% of taxable items to Bangladesh for a transitional period beyond 2026 when Bangladesh will graduate from LDC status, he said.

The envoy said the two sides agreed to launch negotiations on optimising the Bangladesh-China Bilateral Investment Treaty as soon as possible.

 "All these outcomes meet the urgent needs of Bangladesh and will help mitigate the trade imbalance between the two countries and deepen our cooperation," he said.

The two governments signed 21 MoUs and agreements on trade and investment, digital economy, financial regulation, education cooperation, medical care and public health, infrastructure cooperation, green and low carbon development, agricultural cooperation, hydrological forecasting, and cooperation in radio and television, announcing seven projects.

Some 16 MoUs and agreements with a value of $500 million were also signed by private enterprises of the two countries at the business summit titled "The Rise of Bengal Tiger: Summit on Trade, Business and Investment Opportunities between Bangladesh and China".

Regarding the fourth feature - consolidated, Ambassador Yao said next year will mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The two sides agreed to designate the year of 2025 as the "China-Bangladesh Year of People-to-People Exchanges" to promote interactions between the two countries in the fields of culture, tourism, education, health, think tanks, sports, youth, women, etc.

Direct flights between Beijing and Dhaka have officially commenced recently. The number of flights amounts to 80 flights per week with a capacity of over 15,000 passengers.

In the future, China will continue to expand and introduce a series of initiatives to facilitate personnel exchange, increase the capacity of direct flights, simplify visa procedures, and create more opportunities for the people of Bangladesh to go to China for business, study and tourism, he said.

"I believe that with the joint efforts of two countries, the foundation of China-Bangladesh friendship will be more solid and firm, and the friendship between the two countries will usher in a new stage of great development," said the ambassador.